Diplomatic Immunity
by Nezuko
Summary: Genma centric. Two failed attempts at a mission involving a traitor in Amegakure result in the deaths of three Konoha ninja by mysterious jutsu. Genma and Shizune are sent to investigate. GenRai. Chapter 3: Getting Caught
1. Tsunade's Council

**Diplomatic Immunity**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi.  
_

When 17-year-old chuunin Saito Magatsu failed to return from the C-ranked courier mission, it was considered a fluke. Due to his relative inexperience – it was a solo mission in unfamiliar territory – at first he was considered "lost" and was expected to turn up soon, dirty and apologetic. When ten days had passed beyond his projected return date, a psych team from Intel probed into his background, but there was nothing to suggest he'd been a risk for going rogue. At fifteen days, he was declared MIA, and a recovery team was sent to trace his path. They brought back a dented set of dogtags, a shoe, and a few scraps of bloody cloth. There was no other trace of the missing ninja.

The mission was upgraded to B, and a two-person chuunin team was sent out to accomplish what Saito Magatsu had not. This time the personnel were more experienced. 26-year-old Mitsuwa Hisa had been leading missions since she was 15, had a talent for genjutsu, and was widely rumored to be up for promotion to "ToJo" or Tokubetsu Jounin in the next year. Shiotani Houji, 22, had his own fair share of completed A-ranks and solo B-ranks, and was a close-combat expert, frequently serving as sparring partner to members of the elite Hyuuga clan.

This time the remains were recovered.

Houji managed to get himself and his partner's badly damaged body to a Konoha outpost near the north-western border of the Fire country before he succumbed to his own injuries. He died about ninety minutes after arriving, but was able to tell the shinobi guard who cared for him in his last hour that it had been a powerful and previously unknown jutsu that had felled them. Hisa had taken a direct hit and died instantly. He had received a more glancing blow, started a fire to serve as a distraction, and been able to get away. But then the pain had started...

ooo

"The Hunter who did the field autopsy said there was massive, almost indiscriminate internal damage." Shizune said, reading from a small, handwritten scroll.

"And..." Tsunade tapped a pen against the edge of the desk.

"And Mitsuwa Hisa's internal organs were essentially pulverized from within."

"How about the one who survived for a while?"

"'Shiotani Houji. It appears he was hit with a similar force. His spleen and liver were both ruptured, pancreas bruised, left kidney pulped. His hollow organs suffered less damage – stomach, small and large bowel showed extensive swelling in some areas, seemed untouched in others. He died of shock due to internal hemorrhage and massive injuries.'" Shizune paused in her reading. "Doesn't this sound a little like...?"

"We need to talk to the Hyuuga clan." Tsunade cut her off, anticipating Shizune's question.

ooo

"Hokage-sama, while I appreciate the similarities, there are some important differences as well."

Hyuuga Hiashi knelt opposite Tsunade at the low table in her office. A cup of strong green tea steamed softly in front of each shinobi in conference there: the Hyuuga clan head, the Fifth Hokage, her assistant Shizune, and Konoha strategist Nara Shikaku.

Tsunade gazed impatiently into Hiashi's milky eyes, seeming to be able to make eye contact despite the man's featureless white pupils. "Such as?"

"From the reports I reviewed, it appears this particular attack was accomplished over several meters. The gentle fist of the Juuken relies on close proximity. Also," he sipped his tea, then continued, "the Hunter's autopsy shows damage of a more brutal nature, in places other than along expected chakra coils. Perhaps if I had been able to see one of the bodies I could tell you more."

The hokage turned to her assistant, "Shizune, you've autopsied a few nins unlucky enough to cross paths with a Hyuuga. Do you think there are differences here?"

"Aaah. Well I didn't see the recent bodies myself..."

"You read the report. I know you trust the Hunter-nin's skills." _Don't waffle and try to get diplomatic on me here, Shizune,_ she thought._ This is already a high-stakes game we're playing. Lay the cards on the table so Hiashi can see them._

"I... I'd have to say there are both similarities and differences," Shizune answered, understanding her mentor's silent injunction. "The injuries described sound like a combination of chakra coil damage and blunt force trauma. The Juuken corpses I studied also showed massive internal trauma, but it was more directed, more surgical."

Shikaku stirred slightly, inclining his head as if lost in thought. "Still, it could have been a combined Juuken-taijutsu attack," he said. "With no living eyewitnesses, we can't be sure the attackers did _not_ have direct physical access." The scarred strategist pulled slightly at his narrow goatee, then took a casual sip of tea. "There are no Byakugan wielders living _outside_ of Konoha, right?" He addressed the question to the air, in a slightly bored tone, as if simply pondering the accumulated facts, confirming some trivial matter. Its implied and insightful attack was lost on no-one.

"I have no reason to believe any Hyuuga relative had a role in these attacks." Hiashi answered, stiffening slightly.

It was Tsunade's turn. She considered her hand. She'd asked Shikaku to play the skeptic; not a stretch for the jounin. She'd already been over the differences in Juuken autopsies and these latest ones in every detail, from every angle that she and Shizune had been able to conceive. She'd had no real reason to doubt Hiashi, nor any of his clan. Fractious and powerful though they were, they had been impeccably, ceaselessly loyal to Konoha. It was just the startling similarities. The nearly unmarred external bodies, filled with broken, bleeding organs. The mysterious force the young chuunin had described crushing him and his partner from the inside.

Tsunade made her decision, then looked at each person in the room, stopping last to rest her gaze once more on the ghostly Hyuuga eyes.

"Of course not, Hiashi-san. No one thinks you did. I'm sure what Shikaku means is that we should consider whether there could be distant relatives in other regions who perhaps have developed some related ability. Like the Sharingan developed amongst the Uchiha." She looked levelly at the Hyuuga elder. "No one knows for certain the Byakugan's origins, as far as I am aware."

"Exactly," Shikaku said, taking his cue flawlessly. "That is exactly what I meant."

Neither Tsunade nor Hiashi showed any outward sign, but the tension in the room dropped palpably.

"So if we add that possibility to consideration," Shikaku continued, as if nothing had taken place beyond minor clarification of a point of discussion, "we'll need to send out scouts who have some experience with the way the Byakugan works. We have to presume that this is a direct, targeted threat to Konoha. That this represents either a new face on a known enemy, or a new enemy, baring his fangs."

"Of course the Hyuuga will cooperate in this," Hiashi said, with a formal nod toward Tsunade.

"There is still the matter of the mission." Shizune said. "It could be coincidence, but the only encounters so far have been associated with this particular courier mission." She handed a folder containing information on the twice-failed mission to the Hyuuga patriarch, who studied it quickly. Shikaku was already familiar with the details, but he pulled out his own copy of the report and studied it in the silent interval as well.

"Your evaluation, Hyuuga-san?" Tsunade said, taking up her tea.

"If this was an attempt by Rain to interfere with this particular mission, it is not clear how they became aware of it. It appears that contact was not made with the agent in Amegakure, so unless someone tipped them off that we were attempting to make this drop, it's unlikely that there was foreknowledge in Hidden Rain itself. That throws suspicion on a traitor within our own village." Hiashi leaned back and ran a finger along the decorative edge of the low table. "It wouldn't be the first time, Hokage-sama."

"Of course not," Tsunade answered. "But this is not our initial contact with the source. He approached us, through our diplomatic agent in their village, and requested further contact. This is a follow up mission."

"Yes." Shikaku nodded. "Given the circumstances, there is no reason to assume that security has been breached here, it could just as easily be that Rain has become suspicious and decided to intercept any Leaf shinobi they happen to encounter."

"True," said Shizune. "We haven't had many missions in that area recently, so the agents attempting to complete this operation would have been natural targets."

"Also," Shikaku said, pushing the folder open and pointing to the relevant passage, "the field agent that briefly survived the encounter reported that the attacking ninja made no attempt to discover their mission details nor to acquire the documents they were transporting. From earlier evidence, it appears that the first failure was also a summary attack, with no attempt at interrogation or data extraction."

"So what you're saying," Tsunade stated, "is that it looks more like a random attack."

"Yes. It almost looks like an experiment, in a way. Like they were field testing a new jutsu."

Tsunade and her consultants continued to discuss the possibilities for some time, but ultimately they concluded that there was little they could do about the threat without further data. What's more, the original mission remained incomplete. It would have to be reassigned. Re-classified again. A-rank, with a jounin team assigned. Shinobi skilled in physical combat and ninjutsu. Agents who had familiarity with the Hyuuga Byakugan. A team capable of detailed jutsu analysis, and with the medical skills to manage the aftermath of another encounter with the deadly new attack, should that occur. The ranks were a little thin these days, but they managed to make an assignment they felt confident in. A two-person team, for mobility: one a jounin specialist in ninjutsu, one a medic.

ooo ooo ooo

_Special thanks to my many beta readers and those who have encouraged me to publish this despite the fact it is still in progress. There will be several more chapters to come. _


	2. Teal Nails and Strawberries

**Diplomatic Immunity  
**

**Chapter Two: Teal Nails and Strawberries **

Iruka looked up from his place at the mission desk to survey the room. A couple of people lounged on the battered couches, eating from bento boxes and drinking from styrofoam cups. He glanced at an open scroll on the desk, not able to stop himself from re-reading the line he had committed to memory over a week ago. 'Hatake Kakashi, S-ranked solo mission in the northern territories, return date classified.' _Not gonna worry about him_, he thought, forcing his eyes to skip down the list, scan other names, other assignments.

Tonbo was on a mission with Izumo and Kotetsu. Asuma's cell had just headed out the door for Wave Country. Gai and his team were on a two-week mission to inspect Konoha field outposts. Kurenai and her crew were doing joint exercises with Suna. Anko was on a mission in Tea. Raidou was disabled after his most recent mission - expected return to active duty in a week or so. With Sasuke... missing... Sakura apprenticing at the hospital, and Naruto studying somewhere unreachable with Jiriya, he wasn't going to be seeing a lot of friends in the mission room for a while it seemed. Maybe Genma would come by to lighten things up?

"Hey, Iruka-sensei. You look a little bored. Or spaced out." The long-haired special jounin with his backwards hitai-ate and his perpetually chewed senbon had somehow managed to enter the room and sidle up to the desk while Iruka was thinking about him, completely unnoticed.

"Ah! Genma-san. I... speak of the devil.. I..."

"You wouldn't be the first to call me a devil, but are sure you _really_ want to?" Genma perched on the desk, leaning in, smirking that know-it-all smirk of his that kept the needle-shaped weapon jutting impertinently from his lips

"You... ha... You really remind me of Kakashi sometimes, Genma-san," Iruka leaned back and smiled, blushing a little.

"Oh dear, I think you're digging the hole even deeper now," Genma laughed. "Shall I grab you a shovel?"

"No I..." Iruka stopped mid sentence – something fascinating had just caught his eye. "Teal nails, Genma-san?"

"Like em?" Genma splayed his fingers along the desk's edge. "Raidou picked the color."

"They're uh..." _ loud_, Iruka's brain unhelpfully supplied, _alarming, silly..._

"Loud. I know. But kind of fun." Genma grinned. "Listen, if you aren't afraid of having _your_ nails painted, come on over for dinner tonight. Raidou's been getting a little stir-crazy being stuck home while his leg heals, so he's cooking. We have way too much for just the two of us, and I'm sure it's no fun eating alone every night until Kakashi gets back."

"Oh! I wouldn't want to..." he stopped himself, "That's very kind of you, Genma-san. I'd be delighted to." Iruka smiled happily.

"You know," Genma said in a conspiratorial tone, "I think we've known each other long enough you could drop the '-san' if you wanted."

"We're on _duty_, Genma-san. This is the..."

"Yeah, I know. It's the _mission_ room." He mimicked Iruka's voice almost perfectly. "Actually, that's why I'm here. Heard I had a new assignment?" He quirked an eyebrow, remaining perched on the desk's edge. "And I know this may come as a shock to you, Iruka, but shinobi _are_ allowed to be friends, even while on duty."

"Do you ever quit teasing, Genma-sa... Genma?" It felt odd to say the name nakedly like that. Especially the name of an older and higher-ranking comrade.

"I'm not teasing." Genma smiled, and it was a warm smile, genuine, with no smirk or scowl marring the open friendliness of the gesture.

It was true, they had known each other for a number of years, now that he thought about it. They'd met at the academy when Iruka was a new teacher and Genma was giving ninjutsu classes for advanced students. But Kakashi was really their common thread. Genma's buddy. Iruka's lover.

"Well... Thanks." Iruka looked down. _That's why Kakashi likes him so much. He's a straightforward guy, when you come right down to it._ It was good to have such friends. Amazing, really.

"Mission?"

"Oh! Of course!" Iruka jumped a little, and grabbed the scroll listing the jounin's and special jounin's pending assignments. He scanned it for Genma's name, then rifled through a small box, pulling out a blue patterned envelope.

"A-rank. May your mission be successful, Shinobi of Konoha." The ritual words overrode friendship, obliterated personal connections, made the assignment official.

"I thank you, fellow Leaf Ninja," Genma replied with all decorum. Then utterly spoiled the effect by waving the loud teal nails in Iruka's face. "See you at seven. Bring an appetite!" And disappeared in a little swirl of vapor.

ooo

Genma transported himself to a secluded balcony, leaned against the roughly plastered wall of the administration building, and used his senbon as a letter opener, breaking the seal on the mission envelope. The indigo-patterned washi paper told him it was A-rank. The assignment slip that fell from it was not nearly as pretty as its wrapper.

Mission RA1-279-48064 – Revision: 3

Date: 11/2 – Original Date: 10/1

Rank: A – Original Rank: C, B

Personnel: 010203 Shiranui Genma, Tokubetsu Jounin, 010800 Shizune, Jounin, Medic

Previously Assigned: 012484 Saito Magatsu, Chuunin – MIA, presumed KIA 10/08

011134 Mitsuwa Hisa, Chuunin – KIA 10/26

012036 Shiotani Houji, Chuunin – KIA 10/26

Objective: Make contact with Konoha operative at Amegakure University in Hidden Rain, deliver recording equipment, retrieve and transport microfilm to Konoha.

Secondary Objective: Obtain information about unknown jutsu responsible for deaths of previous teams assigned to this mission.

Cover: Transport diplomatic documents to Amegakure no Sato. Attendance at international medical conference by operative 010800

Notes: Two prior attempts at this mission resulted in the confirmed deaths by unknown jutsu of two Konoha Shinobi, and the presumed death of a third. Attacks occurred before contact was made with operative in Amegakure. Enemy unknown. Jutsu is highly lethal, appears to be wind or electrical elemental, able to cross at least 10 meters. If this or similar jutsu is encountered use extreme caution. Identify enemy, elemental, and seals used in accomplishing jutsu. Do not engage if escape is possible.

Briefing: 11/3, 0800, Admin0454

_Well,_ Genma thought, _at least I still get to have dinner with Raidou and Iruka tonight. And Shizune's good to work with. But an eight AM briefing? Ugh._

He returned the document to its envelope, rolled it up, and slipped it into one of the pouches on the front of his vest.

What he didn't think about, what he decided to put off considering until after the briefing, was the deaths of three comrades. Not people he had known well, though he'd had a couple of missions with Mitsuwa Hisa. It wasn't that he didn't care. In fact, if anything, it was the opposite.

ooo

"I'm home!" Genma called, strolling into the entry of the small house he shared with Raidou. He kicked his shoes off and stepped into the living room, shrugging off his vest and pulling the hitai-ate bandana off one-handed without untying it. He hung both garments on a wall rack, next to Raidou's.

"Hey," came Raidou's reply from somewhere out of sight.

Genma headed to the bedroom, intent on changing out of uniform for the night, since he'd undoubtedly be living in it for the next several days at least.

"Rai, where are you? Back here?" Genma slid the bedroom door open, stopped and stared.

"Raidou..."

"Hi."

Raidou was reclined on the bed, holding the book he had apparently been reading. His splinted left leg was elevated on several pillows, with an ice pack over his knee. His smile of greeting was a little shame-faced.

"What's that look for? You seem to be actually doing what the medics tell you to for a change. Did something happen?"

"Um... No... not so much, really..."

"Spill it." Genma pulled the black uniform shirt over his head and tossed it in a corner, then sat cross-legged on the bed, facing his partner.

"I... I just... it was hurting a little so..." The auburn-haired man looked away.

"What did you do?" Genma sighed.

"Walked to the store."

"Without your crutches?"

"No, with." Raidou still wouldn't meet his gaze.

"Well what then? You've walked to the store with me a couple of times since you got home without making anything worse."

"No."

"What then?" Genma pressed, then stopped, the light dawning. "Which store?"

"Eh... The... the one that carries imported stuff. I needed..."

"You fucking idiot! That's halfway across the village! What could you possibly have needed that would be worth..." Genma was stopped mid-rant by the sudden insertion in his mouth of something large... and sweet...

"It's from the Western Lands Country of Wisteria. A kind of sweet. Chocolate blended with hazelnuts, and I dipped strawberries in it." Raidou looked up hopefully, using his best 'don't be mad at me, see what wonderful things I can do for you' expression. (An expression he had learned from Genma, truth be told.)

"Whew dijoo ge srawbawies?" Genma asked, mouth full of the really quite amazing delicacy. He swallowed, licking the juice from his lips. "They're not in season."

"Yamanaka-san's greenhouse. He's forcing them."

"He knows you took them, right?" Genma could just imagine the row there would be if the precious fruits had been "liberated" without permission.

"Yes. Don't be so suspicious! He gave them to me himself. Said you were about to leave on a mission and he knew how much you liked them and they were ripe now and..." Raidou stopped.

"And..." Genma scooted closer to Raidou, curling up next to him on the bed, resting his head on his partner's shoulder. Knowing what was coming.

"And you're gonna tell me about this mission, right? Is it a bad one?"

"Might be. I don't know yet. Briefing's tomorrow."

"Oh." Raidou toyed with Genma's long hair, twining silky brown strands between his fingers.

"It's a reassign. Two prior failures. Three chuunin dead. You remember that woman Hisa?"

"The one who worked the genjutsu screen on that mission to Salt Country last year?"

"Yeah, her. She's dead." Genma's voice was flat. He leaned into the stroking, settling his own hand on Raidou's shoulder, hanging on.

"It's bad then."

"Yeah. She was good. Supposedly they were all hit with some unknown but really deadly wind jutsu. Or maybe an electrical. Don't know who the enemy is, either."

"Oh." Raidou kept petting Genma's hair, cradling his head in his large palm. There wasn't a lot to say, really, in these circumstances. They were shinobi. They knew the risks.

"Anyway, it's in Rain. The official cover is..."

"Transporting diplomatic documents," Raidou chimed in, making Genma laugh.

"Pretty lame, ne?" He grinned at Raidou, whose scarred face wrinkled with a returned, slightly lopsided smile.

"Hard to believe they're still using that old story, but I guess it works."

"Shizune's assigned, too. Just the two of us."

"Oooh, should I be jealous?" Raidou made an exaggerated pout, fluttering his lashes over warm brown eyes.

"Nope. I'm all yours. Especially since you feed me so well. Idiot." Genma grinned and patted Raidou's hurt leg gently.

The auburn-haired man flinched, then bent his head forward for a kiss, lips pursed. Genma happily complied.

ooo ooo ooo

_Special thanks to my many beta readers and reviewers. Chapter three is in the works.  
_


	3. Getting Caught

**Diplomatic Immunity, Chapter 3: Getting Caught  
**

_by Nezuko, Prince of Rats_

_This is a work of derivative fiction based on "Naruto" by Kishimoto Masashi.  
_

Entering the village of Hidden Rain was simple, with their diplomatic passes. They were escorted by four Rain ninja (that they could see) and probably at least four more higher-level shinobi lurking out of sight, as far as The Fire Country Embassy. There, on "home" territory, the treaties between the countries demanded that Genma and Shizune be free to do as they liked.

The embassy itself was an elegant stone building, three stories tall. It had been built in the previous century as a residence for a wealthy Rain Country land baron, and only converted to diplomatic offices after the treaty between Amegakure and Konoha was signed after the Third War.

Making contact with the operative in Amegakure had gone like clockwork. Genma and Shizune entered the little second-hand bookshop and browsed quietly. A typical tourist couple spending a typical rainy afternoon shopping at the bazaar in the University District. The shop was near to the college, and full of the sorts of dusty books and scrolls one associates with academia. Text books, and histories, books on alchemy and ninjutsu. Literary works from the glorious past of Rain Country. Foreign books in foreign languages. One-of-a-kind books that were so old they nearly fell apart when you opened them.

They were dressed for the part – Shizune in a simple black dress with a necklace of brass leaves, Genma in jeans and a heavy black turtleneck, with his hair pulled back into a scraggly brown ponytail. A pair of vaguely academic types, visiting the town famous for its university. They engaged in the light banter their subterfuge called for: How about this one? No, he's already got that. My father will never be impressed with you if you bring him something like that. Well, how about _this_ one then? And so on, edging their way closer and closer to the nervous-looking clerk.

Finally the clerk was emboldened enough to enter the exchange. "Are you looking for something in particular? Perhaps I can be of assistance."

"I'm sure we can find it on our own," Shizune snapped, playing her part.

"Wait," said Genma, "we should at least let him try. Maybe he'll know what we're trying to find."

"I can tell by your accents you're from out of town," the clerk prompted. He looked up at Genma who stood almost fifteen centimeters taller than himself.

"Visiting from Fire Country," Genma answered with a smile. "Got any map books of the old city? You know, the illustrated kind?"

The clerk paled ever so slightly. A tell, Genma and Shizune recognized instantly, but with any luck – and the shop was fairly empty – no-one else savvy enough to read these things had noticed. "I- I might have something you'd be interested in," the clerk continued. A balding man, small and dyspeptic looking. Could this really be a man so concerned about the things the ninja of his country were doing he'd be willing to betray them to the Leaf? Was he really even in a position to know such things, much less share those secrets with the enemy?

"Sure, sure," Genma reassured. "Come on honey," he added to Shizune, "it can't hurt to look."

"We're not paying too much for it," Shizune grumbled, still playing along. But the script was running flawlessly so far.

The clerk pulled a slim folio from a locked case behind the counter and handed it to Genma. "Is this the sort of illustrated map book you meant, sir?"

Genma flipped past a couple of pages, feeling discreetly for the edges. The texture told him the pages of the antique atlas were carefully glued together, concealing thinner sheets yet between them. He passed the book to Shizune. "I think this might be it, yeah," he said.

Shizune examined the book more closely. It was definitely the vehicle they were expecting. "My dad might like this..." she said reluctantly.

"Well, she's the boss," Genma said with a grin at the bookseller. "Suppose you'd take fifty for it?"

"Oh no sir, that book's worth at least seventy," the nervous man answered. But he was reassured. Everything was going as he'd been led to expect.

"We'll pay fifty-five," Shizune said, holding up a hand.

"Say sixty, and I'll agree to it," said the salesman.

"Done," Genma answered, pulling out a wallet. "How about you gift-wrap it for us?"

That was the final confirmation. The bookseller nodded, reaching for the book. "Right away sir, madam." When he'd wrapped the book in simple yet elegant washi paper and handed it back he said, "Enjoy your stay in Amegakure."

When the disguised foreign ninja left his shop, he had to go in the back and sit down. Never again, he told himself.

ooo

The documents hidden in the atlas they recovered from the bookseller, however, did not conclude their mission. There was still spying to do. Shizune was to attend a conference and present a medical paper while Genma worked in the shadows. But something unexpected had come up: tucked into the wrapping the nervous man had done the book up in, Genma and Shizune had found a slip of paper with a name and contact information for a professor at the university. The bookseller was just the courier, a sympathizer; it was the professor who was their real informant, and he who had carefully sealed the documents between the thick pages of the atlas. It wasn't something they could just ignore. And it had led to the position Genma found himself in now.

Genma shivered and eyed the camera. He knew his captors were watching his every move. He hoped the video feed was working, and that in the signal analysis room in Konoha's ANBU headquarters, his allies were watching, too. It had been a risky operation, placing the video parasites on the Amegakure equipment. But when they'd heard about the jutsu lab, with its state of the art equipment continuously recording experiments on human subjects – prisoners mostly – they knew the opportunity for the Leaf was too big to pass up.

Their contact at the university had tipped them off to the secret lab, affiliated with the academy and staffed by shinobi researchers. A new jutsu was under development that was so powerful it had utterly destroyed the first test subjects, leaving only tatters of flesh and shocked scientists. Uneasy ninja medics were deployed to the facility to keep the new test subjects alive long enough to gather useful data. Prisoners from high security jails – unrepentant killers, dangerous convicts – had been transferred to the research facility, while their records listed them as already deceased.

The Rain village researcher had been so disturbed by what he'd already learned that he'd turned traitor, divulging the existence of the lab and the new jutsu to the Leaf shinobi. "I don't want to see my village going down this path," he'd told them. Too bad it was already too late for that.

Genma and Shizune had debated an infiltration late that night, in the carefully screened room at the Leaf's embassy where they were staying.

ooo

"It has to be the same jutsu. What else could it be?" Genma asked.

"I don't doubt it," Shizune replied. "But are we sure our informant's reliable?"

"We can't know. His other information has all panned out, though. And the ones like him who've got some kind of moral calling are usually the most trustworthy."

Shizune nodded. "He thinks he's helping his village."

"We can't pass up this chance, Shizune," Genma continued. "We have the equipment we were going to use to bug the conference in hopes of learning more about the jutsu. This is clearly within the purview of our mission."

"If we go in to this facility, though, if we even find it, it means we won't be getting the conference data," Shizune countered.

"You can still go to the conference. You have to," Genma returned. "It's our cover."

"So you're planning to go in solo? Genma, that's too risky."

"It's a risk we have to take." Genma sipped at his tea. "You'll go ahead to the conference, and present your paper. Gather as much info as you can. You won't have all the surveillance equipment, but we can still rig a recorder on you. And I'll dive into the lab and bug their video feeds."

"You'll be going in blind. You don't even know where the facility is, let alone how heavily guarded it is." Shizune frowned. "It's not a good setup."

"That's why it's an A-rank," Genma said with a smirk. "If it were a safe mission, we wouldn't be the ones doing it."

"It ought to be an S-rank, given what it's turned out to be," Shizune grumbled.

"Yeah," Genma agreed. "We'll have to lobby for an upgrade when we get back."

Shizune sighed and pushed the pile of miniature electronics she'd been working on towards her partner. "How do you plan to find the place? We don't have any idea where the lab is, other than not on the Amegakure Academy campus."

"The guy said they were transferring high security prisoners into the lab to use as subjects. I'll attach myself to a prison transport."

"What, you're gonna get yourself arrested?"

"It's one of the oldest tricks in the books, Shizune. I'll get myself thrown in the drunk tank or something. Once I'm in, I'll leave a clone in the cell and go exploring. You can come bail out my clone, and no-one will be the wiser."

"How are you going to get your equipment with you?" Shizune frowned and stretched out her legs. "If you get yourself arrested, they'll strip you."

Genma picked up one of the tiny bugs and looked at it. "They won't do a cavity search if they think I'm just a harmless drunk."

"That's another big risk. They know you're shinobi, so they're gonna be suspicious. If they catch you with this stuff on you – in you – your cover is blown and so is mine."

"They won't look. Trust me." Genma grinned. "I'll stuff all my equipment – vest, weapons, and the bugs – in a summon, and just take the scroll. And I'll disguise the scroll and hide it where the sun don't shine. If I'm so drunk I'm blowing chunks and breaking nasty wind, they won't _want_ to look."

Shizune made a face. "You're such a pig, Genma."

"Yep." Genma nodded agreeably. "But it's a good method. And even in the worst case, if they do find it, all they'll see is a scroll for a sex jutsu."

"You have no shame at all, do you?"

"Harsh." Genma grinned again and sipped his tea. "So it's a plan?"

"I guess so. What are you gonna do after you plant the bugs? Come back here? If you don't you'll be missed."

"If I can." Genma paused, staring thoughtfully at Shizune for a moment. "No, wait. I have a better plan, and one that won't expose you to as much risk."

"What now?" Shizune asked.

"You need to send me packing. Publicly. Send me back to Konoha to get something you forgot – slides, or data or something."

"And this helps, how?"

"I'm officially gone. I can henge into some bum, get arrested, carry out my mission, and no-one's gonna be wondering where the other Leaf nin went."

"What about the fact that the bum they arrested will have disappeared from the drunk tank?"

"It's just a bum who managed to get out. I'll pick someone who we've seen around – a repeat offender. The poor guy will end up arrested and interrogated for a jail break he didn't commit, but I doubt they'll be too hard on him if I use some senile old fool."

Shizune nodded. "Alright. I guess I can go along with it. But I still don't like you going in blind."

ooo

He'd gone in blind. And right up to almost the very end, Genma's plan had worked flawlessly. He'd said goodbye to Shizune with much bitter complaint about being sent back to Konoha to play fetch and carry for her. There was, of course, another escort to get him to Amegakure's gates. Once he was outside, though, it hadn't been terribly difficult to sneak back into the city disguised as a mendicant priest. In that guise, it was an easy thing to move among the lowest classes of Amegakure's residents and find a suitable drunk to knock out for a while so Genma could take his place. He'd gotten arrested, and not searched. Left a clone in his cell and slipped out of the drunk tank to search the jail. Found a transport order for convicts going to a lab as test subjects, and used that to discover the lab's location. And gone. 

It was nestled in bedrock at the edges of the slaty mountains to the north of the city, in an area that wasn't farmed and was no longer mined. In fact, Genma noted, it looked like they'd taken a played out mine and turned it into this base. It was late night when he shimmied in through an air shaft, and found himself in an underground labyrinth that at first seemed more like a high-tech dungeon than a research facility. The rough walls of the former mine were still visible, with metal conduit and exposed wires lacing along the sides. As he got deeper underground though, the facility became more and more developed looking, with plastered walls and squared corners to the rooms. It was clever. Deeply hidden. Nearly undiscoverable. And nearly unbuggable. Genma frowned and reconsidered his strategy. He'd hidden his vest and dogtags in the air shaft, so that if he were caught, he couldn't be identified. But now he was going to need to run wire back to the outside if any of his bugs were going to successfully broadcast.

As he crept through the lab, Genma made a mental map, intending to sketch it all once he was safely away. There were offices and conference rooms, sleeping quarters for the staff, currently occupied, a kitchen and mess hall, storage bunkers, power generator, toilets and showers. All the things you needed to maintain an underground base. In the prisoners' quarters Genma counted nine inmates in various stages of health from fully well to heavily tortured and nearly dead. All in solitary confinement, no doubt to prevent collaboration and escape. It wasn't a huge operation, but it was big enough. Genma checked the time: nearly three in the morning. At this hour only a skeletal staff of guards were awake, which made Genma's prowling easier. Still, time was ticking away, and the effort of maintaining a high-level invisibility jutsu was draining. It was time to deploy the bugs and get the hell out of there.

He planted a listening device in the conference room, and rigged camera intercepts in an office that looked like it belonged to a high-ranking officer, and another in one of the prisoner's cells. And then there was the lab itself. It looked like an operating room crossed with a prison cell, rigged with recording and measuring devices, with one wall devoted to an observation area. No one-way glass here, the observers gallery was part and parcel of the main room where experiments were conducted. It was to a camera here that Genma attached a live video interceptor parasite. Then he carefully strung wires from his bugs back to a lead he'd dropped from a tiny broadcast antenna he'd planted on a cold water pipe that led to the outside.

By five in the morning, Genma had nearly completed his mission. He'd successfully deployed all his bugs, and was on his way back to his air-shaft escape route, when he was caught.

ooo ooo ooo


End file.
